This is Not Naboo
by LongLiveTheClones
Summary: Just as Rex is headed home from a solo mission, the Resolute disappears. Rex is stranded alone in space and ends up on a strange planet. Will he ever make it home? A humorous parody.
1. Chapter 1 The Resolute Disappears

_**A/N:** This story was written as a birthday ficlet for Elsa. Happy birthday, Elsa! The best stories are the funny, fluffy ones where Rex ends up somehow with his shirt off._

"Resolute, this is Captain Rex. Requesting permission to dock."

Rex sat back in his seat, and cracked his neck. He was glad to be headed back home. It felt good to have completed his first solo mission and he was pleased that General Skywalker and Commander Tano entrusted him with a mission of such importance. But, it had been a grueling seven rotations and he was looking forward to a hot shower, a solid meal and rack time. Or, maybe rack time, a shower, and then a meal. No, food first. He was _starved_.

Rex brought one arm up and took a good whiff of himself. Ah, alright, out of courtesy for the rest of the Legion, shower first. But, then, straight to the mess. He had to eat.

"Captain Rex, this is the Resolute. You are cleared to land in Docking Bay 74. Be advised that we are detecting some unusual spacial anomalies in this area due to recent solar flares and suspected close proximity to a blackhole. Use extra caution as you approach."

Rex twisted his lips. Spacial anomalies? Blackhole? Couldn't they locate the ship someplace peaceful for once? He sighed and toggled the comm back on. "Acknowledged, Resolute. Approaching docking vector now."

He approached the ship high and wide, figuring he'd give any spatial anomalies a clear sweep. It was also nice to get a clear view of the Resolute after being away for a while. It might look like a standard Republic Cruiser to others, but it was so much more. Most everyone that he cared in the galaxy was onboard that ship, so wherever it may be, it was home.

He stifled a long yawn. A week of just ration bars had kept him alive and nourished, but his gut still felt so empty it was painful. He'd also barely slept. He was just going on adrenaline at this point. As soon as he delivered this surveillance data to General Skywalker, he was hitting his rack.

Speaking of which, he was within range to establish a secure uplink and General Skywalker needed this mission data ASAP. Rex linked his HUD into the uplink and sent the data directly to General Skywalker. The high speed transmission burst took less than a second.

His eyes slid across the controls, and he double-checked his approach vector. Normally, when they flew anywhere, General Skywalker insisted on piloting. But, Rex was a competent pilot and had done well on his training during command school. Everything looked perfect-

Wait. He startled. Automatically sitting up straighter in his chair. What was that?! He double-checked the reading across one of the controls. That couldn't be right. He cross-referenced the numbers against every other display. No. It was way out of range.

"Resolute, this is Captain Rex. I'm getting some strange sensor readings out here."

He waited anxiously for a reply, suddenly noticing other panels were out of range. He was rapidly approaching the side of the ship.

And, there was no reply from the Resolute.

"Resolute, this is Captain Rex. Do you copy?"

The clone captain began to get a very bad feeling about this. The comm line suddenly dissolved into static, just as the entire ship began to shake.

_Oh fek._

"Resolute, this is Captain Rex. I've hit spatial turbulence. My sensor readings are out-of-line. Should I continue in my vector approach? Advise."

In place of a reply, the static increased into a painful crescendo. A moment later, the enormous Jedi Cruiser vanished from sight.

Rex blinked, staring in astonishment out his view screen where the ship had been a moment before. It didn't look like as if the ship had activated the hyperdrive. There were no signs of debris, as if the ship had been destroyed. The ship had simply _vanished_.

Unsure what to do, Rex continued on his current course, anomalous readings and all, headed toward the spot where the Resolute had disappeared. That ship was home, and it meant everything to him. So wherever it had gone, he was going to follow.

Seconds later, he was regretting his decision to blindly follow the ship.

As soon as he entered the pocket of space where _the Resolute_ had vanished, his ship began spinning out of control. Rex could do nothing to stop it. His head swam as the ship twisted and turned in directions it was never meant to go. His stomach heaved and Rex quickly fumbled with the latches on his helmet, determined to fulfill his lifelong mantra: 'I will never hurl in my bucket.'

The moment he released the seal, the ship careened wildly in the other direction and his helmet was jerked out of his hands. He heard the precious piece of equipment crash into a bulkhead. Free of his helmet, the nausea _was_ a bit better, although Rex lamented the loss of his bucket and hoped it hadn't been damaged. Then, he decided that was probably the least of his worries. _The Resolute_ was missing. He was spinning wildly out of control. He had no idea where the ship was going and if he was about to collide into an asteroid, a planet or a nearby star. Warning alarms started blaring in the cockpit. Screeches of sound, along with flashes of red.

_Oh, yes. Things just definitely got a lot worse._

The ship felt like it was shaking apart. The spinning increased until Rex's tortured system could take no more and he blacked out.

# # #


	2. Chapter 2 Crashing

Rex regained consciousness in time to see that he was crashing. He caught glimpses of white puffy clouds and an ocean of endless blue.

_Naboo? Fek. The last thing I am going to see before I die are those shabla Gungans. Life if fekkin' cruel. Gah. Not here._

He reached his arms forward, straining against the restraints to get to the controls. Thoughts of Gungans lent a new urgency to his movements. The restraints had locked up with all of the wild motions and spinning of the ship. He was able to get one arm forward enough to reduce his descent velocity, and felt some of the shaking and spinning around him reduce... somewhat. But, it probably wasn't going to be enough. He had no idea what hitting the water at these speeds would do to him or the ship. He needed to reach the controls.

_I'm not dying on a planet with Gungans._

Knowing he would probably regret this, Rex released him from the restraints so he could more easily reach the control panel. Just as his hands gripped the joystick, the ship decided to buck and spin wildly again. Rex was torn out of his seat and thrown clear across the cabin. As his head smacked into the bulkhead, his last conscious thought was: 'I probably should've kept my bucket on.'

He came to with a groan, hands going up to his aching head. He forced his eyes open and immediately regretted it. Everything was just a blur, and even what he could see was doubled.

He brought his hands back down before his eyes.

_That's strange. I never had four hands before._

It slowly occurred to his addled brain that he might have a concussion.

_Right. I'll just call Coric. He'll fix it, then later give me some sort of lecture about being more careful, (which I'll politely ignore.)_

As Rex stared at his hands, and the blood on his fingertips, he started to remember where he was. He couldn't call Kix, because the Resolute had vanished along with everyone else he cared about and everything he ever known. He was completely on his own, wherever it was he was now.

He stared out the forward viewscreen and noticed it was dark. And, bubbly.

Until something huge and white swam by with a dorsal fin. And, teeth. Lots of teeth.

Rex startled, as his brain tried to sort through the images and then remembered the last thing he'd seen before the ship had crashed. Ocean. Endless ocean.

_That's right. Shabla Naboo. I crashed underwater._

Simple enough, just need to get the ship back into space, and get out of here before I have to deal with any Gungans.

He shuddered and had images of the ship being destroyed by well meaning do-gooders saying things like: "But, me-sah want to help you!" He quickly pulled out his twin blasters to double-check the charges. Good full power.

Rex refused to accept the possibility that the ship had been damaged, (like his head), and that he might be stuck here for any amount of time. He made his way back to the pilot's chair and sank down into it. He grabbed a sani-wipe out of his belt pouch, and cleaned his hands quickly. He didn't want to get blood on the controls. He'd have to deal with his head later.

The ship still had power and the nav computer was online. He ran a check of all systems, trying to ignore the constant aching and pounding in his head, and the occasional doubling of his vision. The ship seemed to be intact.

Guess I do a better job of crashing than Skywalker.

But, the nav computer couldn't get a fix on his location. Without knowing exactly where he was, he couldn't set coordinates to get back to where he started, (last known location of the Resolute.) He tried entering the nav-points for Naboo into the system, but instantly received an error-code back.

_Huh?_

_I'm not on kriffin' Naboo? Home of the shabla' Gungans?_

Rex began quickly scanning through his HUD, trying to find other planets similar in profile to Naboo. He tapped them in one after another, but kept getting the same message error code back.

NO MATCH FOUND. PLANET NOT IN DATABASE.

Oh, fek.

He continued to stare out the viewport, watching the sealife swimby. He realized with a sinking feeling that he couldn't identify any of the species. None seemed to be capable of flying like the ocean life on Kamino, or have more than two eyes like the sea life on most of the Outer Rim worlds. What kind of bizarre world was this anyway? What kind of primitive sea creatures couldn't fly?

Rex tugged his helmet back off, wincing as it brushed against the back of his head.

I'll have to put some bacta on that later.

He ground the back of his knuckles into his eyes. Gah. He was exhausted. And, hungry. No, starving. He thought mournfully of The Resolute and the hot shower, warm meal and rack time he'd been craving. Crashing at the bottom of some strange ocean had not been on his list of things to do today.

Come on, Rex. Think. You've been in worst situations than this. You just need to figure this one out, and you'll be laughing over this with Fives and the others.

Rex reached into his belt pack and pulled out a rations bar, and his canteen. He blew out a sigh as he stared at the rations bar. He needed to keep his body going for a while longer and he could feel his blood sugar dropping. He unwrapped the bland bar, and automatically chewed it, trying not to let his thoughts dwell on his brothers back on the Resolute. But, he thought of them anyway.

_They're fine. Nothing happened to the ship. I'll find them._

Gah.

He was supposed to be with his brothers, eating in the mess, not forcing down a rations bar alone. He felt lonely and miserable. He swallowed down the last bite of the bar, and washed it down with a long dreg from his canteen.

Come on, come on, how am I going to get out of here?  
He scrubbed at his face, wanting to do nothing more than sleep. But, there was no time to sleep. He blew out a long sigh, and tugged his helmet back on. He called up information on nav systems for the particular model ship he was flying, scanning through file after file. There had to be something here for why he couldn't get a lock.

As he figured out the answer, his stomach clenched up.

_Oh, fek_.

The answer was completely obvious, and if he hadn't been so tired earlier he would've figured it out sooner. He was on a planet that the nav-computer had never seen before. No one in the Republic had ever been to this planet before.

Which means the chances of somebody finding me are...

No! Don't think that way! You're going to get yourself out of here, somehow. You just need to find somebody on this planet that can tell you where you are. Maybe with that information, the nav-computer can reset itself and you can get out of here.

Rex stared out the viewport, and realized he was going to have to go for a little swim.

# # #


	3. Chapter 3 Commando Fish

At least something was going his way. The ship had crashed about two klicks offshore from a small island, which sensors indicated was populated. He double-checked the distance against his HUD. He could make two klicks in eighteen minutes if he swam quickly, and the currents were right. And, he didn't run into any obstacles.

_Right. Those kinds of things never happen to me on missions._

He blew out another breath and glanced up as another of the large dorsal finned creatures swam in front of the viewscreen. It almost appeared as if the creature were eyeing him. Rex shook his head, knowing he was just imagining it.

_I hope the local sealife is friendly._

He stepped into the airlock and waited while it pressured, and then let water in from the outside.

Even through his bodysuit, he could feel the chill already seeping in everyplace the water touched him. When it reached his midsection, he sucked in his breath.

_Gah! How cold is this ocean? _

As it spread up his body, he could his body temperature already dropping. He adjusted the temperature in his bodysuit, cranking it up several degrees to compensate. It helped, but there was only so much the suit could do. He knew that once he was full submerged in the water, he was going to be cold. He reached up and flipped on his bucket headlamps so he'd at least have some light in the underwater world.

The airlock opened silently and Rex wasted no time propelling himself out into the dark waterly world. He followed the coordinates on his HUD, trusting the guidance system to get him to the nearby island. If the power in his suit went out, he would be truly lost. He would have no way of getting back to his ship again, or finding the island. Or, even knowing which way was up or down. At this depth, everything was dark and he could start swimming in the wrong direction until he ran out of oxygen and drowned. Or, swam to such a depth his body would be crushed by pressure.

_Fek. Rex. Think happy thoughts._

_At least there are no Gungans. _

_Hey! What was that?! Did that creature just intentionally bump me? _

He turned around and saw a dorsal fin disappear into the dark depths.

_What the shab was that? Some sort of newcomer greeting ritual?_

Rex kept swimming. A minute later, he was thumped again in the back, and this time it was hard enough to hurt.

OK, that's going to leave a mark.

He spun around just in time to see a dorsal fin once again disappear into the depths.

_Not enjoying this greeting ritual._

Knowing his oxygen supply was limited, Rex kept swimming. Less than 30 seconds later, he was hit so hard that it knocked all the wind out of him.

_Fek! Ow! _ Gah!

He spun around and suddenly there were two, no, three of the grey and white creatures swarming him. And, each seemed to be larger than the last.

Something about them reminded him uncomfortably of commando droids. Maybe it was their angular heads. Or, just the creepy way they moved. Or, how they were currently swarming him.

_I have a very bad feeling about this._

Rex kept swimming, following the HUD guidance system toward the island. He was still a klick out. His danger sense was flaring big time, and adrenaline lent new strength to his tired muscles. He pushed hard with his arms and legs, propelling himself as fast as he could through the water.

Unfortunately, the dorsal finned creatures had no problems keeping pace with him. They were actually much faster than a fully armored clone fatigued from a week out in the field. They not only kept pace with him, they swam constant circles around him, literally, as if mocking him. He had to dodge his way around their huge bodies just to keep swimming in a straight line toward the island.

It was starting to feel very personal.

_Ignore the swarming creatures. Just keeping swimming._

He was a klick out when he was first attacked. Rex felt a fierce burning pain in his shoulder, and knew he'd been bit. He'd been attacked by enough strange creatures in the Outer Rim to recognize the piercing sensation of of teeth puncturing armor. It was different from the icy cold/burning hot feeling he always got from a blaster burn.

On instinct, Rex ejected his vibroblade and swung his fist back both punching and stabbing at the same time. It was a vicious hit and he could feel that he solidly connected. He knew the blade must have gone in deep. The creature immediately released him and the pain decreased somewhat. The water around him was discolored with red. He had battled with the creature and their blood was forever mixed, spinning and swirling in the dark depths. In the twin beams of his headlamps, he was just able to make out the dorsal fin of the large creature as it disappeared back into the deep depths.

Rex twisted and turned looking for the other two grey monsters. Out of the corner of his eyes, he caught a flash of movement. He spun around just in time to see another dorsaled nightmare bearing directly down on him. Rex spun himself upside down in a tight ball and pulled out his blaster. He came up firing and hit the creature point blank in the skull, just like he would a commando droid. He didn't take time to savor his victory, spinning and searching for the third creature.

He couldn't find it.

He twisted and pivoted, every which way, but he seemed to be alone in the water. Fek. It would've been a lot easier if he just could've taken down all three at once. His breath came in ragged gasps, and he quickly checked his oxygen reserves.

_Oh, fek._

He was down to less than five minutes of air. He didn't bother calculating the distance vs. oxygen reserves. It didn't matter. It was too far to try to swim back to the ship. He had no choice. Rex immediately set out for the island.

_Gah. Ow._

As soon as he pulled with his shoulder, taking the first stroke, he felt the torn muscles from the attack. He wished he could take the time to inject himself with a painkiller. But, if he stopped now, he would suffocate before he reached the island.

_That is still a strong possibility._

_Shut up, Rex, and keep swimming._

He considered swimming straight to the surface, and pulling off his helmet, and swimming topside. At least he would have air. He'd be alive, but his helmet would be ruined by the saltwater. And, then there would be no way he could ever get back to his ship. He would be forever stranded on this farkled not-Naboo world.

_No. He had to get to shore with his bucket on, or not at all._

_It's do or die time, Rex._

He kept swimming, trying not to watch the seconds tick down in his HUD, or the oxygen meter turning red and flashing warnings at him.

_Yes, fek. I know. I'm running out of air. Stop reminding me! That's just what I need. A little more pressure._

Rex used the 360-degree view in his HUD to keep an eye out for the third dorsaled creature. It was nerve-wracking to be swimming, not knowing if he was going to be attacked out of the dark depths.

_Come on, Rex. Where are your happy thoughts?_

_My happy thoughts went away when I was attacked by the commando droid with teeth._

Rex focused his thoughts on keeping his arms and legs moving. He channeled his whole world into just swimming as fast and efficiently as possible. He tuned out the flashing oxygen sensor and focused on the guidance screen. His whole existence was simply the tiny moving blip that represented him and the squiggly shape that represented the island. He wouldn't rest until those two shapes merged. Rex had an outstanding ability to focus with precision.

He was getting close. He just might make it. His danger sense suddenly flared, interrupting his intense focus. Rex blinked and on instinct drew both his blasters.

A gaping jaw full of teeth roared up out of the dark depths, about to rip off his legs. Rex jerked back his legs, as he fired off several shots point-blank range. The teeth got so close he felt a grinding sensation against his armor.

_Take that. Fekkin' commando fish._

Rex stared in satisfaction at the enormous body of the dorsal finned creature, sinking down unmoving into the depths. But, his victory was short-lived, because he immediately began to follow the monster into the deep. Anytime he stopped swimming, he began sinking as his heavy armor weighed him down. Rex knew he'd lost precious time from his most recent fight.

_Gah._

He started swimming again, re-doubling his efforts to reach the shore. He'd only taken a few strokes when his oxygen sensor let out a mighty bleep of protest.

_I know that sound._

His suit had run out of oxygen. He would have a few minutes left while he could get away with re-breathing what was in his helmet, and then he would poison himself with bad air. He was on borrowed time.

Rex didn't think he could ask much more of his exhausted body, but he'd pushed himself to the limits before and survived. He kept swimming and refused to think of the odds. If he gave up, his odds of survival were zero. His only chance was to keep going.

Rex could feel his head pounding and his vision beginning to blur. The air was going bad. He wasn't going to make it. But, he refused to give up. He would keep fighting until the last. It was the 501st way.

_Fek. I feel sick. I wish Coric was here._

_Stop whining. Keep swimming, di'kut._

_Really? You're dying, and you're calling yourself names?_

_Can't you call yourself something nice in your last few moments?_

_Like what? Seriously? What in manda could you possibly say to yourself that could make this any better?_

Rex knew he wasn't thinking clearly. It was the oxygen deprivation and bad air affecting him. He kept propelling his arms and legs through the water, stubbornly refusing to stop. He wasn't sure if he was headed the right way. He couldn't focus well enough to check the nav sensor. Maybe he'd started to swim downwards and was slowly drowning. Maybe he'd turned himself around and was headed back out to sea, right back into the swarming nest of commando fish.

_Fek. I hate those commando fish._

When his feet hit solid ground, he didn't register what it was. He kept moving forward in swimming motions and he stumbled and lurched awkwardly. His legs tried to kick and and it just dug him deeper in the sand trapping him. He kicked again harder, confused, digging himself in deeper.

It wasn't until he hit the hard sand with a painful 'oomph' that it began to slowly sink in that he'd reached the shore. Waves were still crashing and breaking on top of him with sharp, painful intensity, threatening to drag him back out to sea. The undertow was tremendous, and it took considerable effort to disentangle his feet and crawl further forward on the sand.

His vision was swimming, and he was blacking out from lack of air. He dragged himself forward, lungs heaving and straining. When he finally felt that he was free of the grip of the ocean, he collapsed onto his back.

_Why can't I breathe? I'm on the fekkin' island. Why can't I breathe?_

He sucked in several more breaths, and knew he was dying. He dragged a hand up to his face, clawing at his mouth. In agony for air.

He felt his bucket. He was still wearing his helmet.

With trembling hands, Rex struggled to get his bucket off. It had never been this difficult before. Gasping like a dying fish, he clawed at his bucket. His body didn't capable of obeying any of his commands. His arms fell limply to his sides.

_I'm going to die trapped in my suit._

He could feel himself blacking out.

_No. No. No_.

He dragged his arms up, and tugged again at his helmet. With a monumental effort, he was finally able to tug off his bucket. It gave way and tumbled next to him in the sand. He took huge gaping breaths, and then blacked out from exhaustion, collapsing backwards into the sand.

# # #


	4. Chapter 4 Isle of Wight

He woke up to the sound of marching feet.

_Oh, fek. Droids. Not-Naboo is a Seppie planet._

He tried to draw his twins blasters, but his whole body was sluggish and stiff and didn't want to move. His muscles seemed to be out of agreement with his mind on the best course of action. With a huge surge of adrenaline that came from the thought he was able to get overrun by droids, Rex finally convinced his body to roll over onto one side with the intent of getting into a crouch. He'd done a lot of great firing in his day from a good battle crouch. But, he only got as far as rolling onto the shoulder that had been mauled by the commando fish. No glorious crouch.

_Shab. Shab. Shab._

White hot pain exploded in front of his vision. The sound of marching feet drew louder, drowning out even the sound of his virulent cursing in Mando'a. He forced himself to his knees, still trying to force his body into a respectable crouch, when suddenly the sound was atop him.

Actually, it was more like a creature.

_Some sort of eopie?_

It hadn't been marching feet he'd heard, but galloping feet. Rex stared upwards, trying to make sense of the tall brown creature peering down at him. They just stared at each other, sizing each other up.

"Do you speak Basic?" Rex asked, his voice sounding rough and hoarse, even to his own ears.

The creature responded with something that sounded suspiciously like "Neigh!" and shook it's head vehemently.

Rex instantly ran the response through the translation matrix in his HUD, but could not come up with a match for "neigh." He would need more language samples before they could communicate.

"Do you understand Basic, at least?" he asked the creature. It just blinked at him, with brown very intelligent looking eyes. Rex took that to be a 'yes.' Encouraged by the response, Rex continued on. "Could you tell me what planet this is? I need to calibrate my nav computer-"

"Excuse me. Are you talking to my horse?"

Rex startled at the unexpected sound of the voice, and drew his blaster.

_Fek. Fek. Fek._

He'd instantly gone for his blaster with the commando fish injured shoulder. He swore as his muscles roared in protest.

"Who are you?" he growled, irritable from the pain, as he tried to find the unexpected source of the voice.

"Up here. On top of the horse you were just talking to," said the voice. "Is that thing some sort of gun? We mean you no harm."

Rex angled his body backwards, and was now able to make out the figure of a woman sitting astride the eopie. The one she'd named "Mi'horse." Rex thought this was an odd sounding name for an eopie. Then again, this was a variant on the species he had not seen before.

He holstered his blaster. His arm was too sore and tired to keep holding the shabla thing, and she would've had ample time to blast his di'kut head off. He tried to get to his feet, and failed miserably. He ended up flopped on his backside and let out a low growl of frustration as the culet dug into his flesh.

"What's wrong with you?" the woman asked, "Have you been out all night drinking?"

"Drinking?" Rex stared at her, trying to comprehend the implication behind her words. "You mean alcohol?" He shook his head, "No, ma'am. I'm on duty."

She frowned at him, clearly puzzled, "On duty? For what?"

Rex gathered up his helmet, and again tried to struggle to his feet, "The GAR," he stared at her, thinking that should be _obvious_. "My ship went down. Two klicks from here." He jerked a thumb over his good shoulder, and gestured toward the ocean. "Down there. I just need to recalibrate my nav-computer so I can get out here." He tried once again to rise, but only made it as far as his knees before sinking down with exhaustion. He blew out a long breath, and then turned his attention to inspecting the inside of his helmet. He peered inside, looking to see if any sand or salt water had damaged the precious electronics while he'd been unconscious. He was about to put his bucket back on to do a systems test, when the woman spoke again.

She stared at his helmet, "You swam here?"

"Yes," Rex repeated patiently, as if speaking to someone a little slow on the uptake, "after my ship went down."

"Are you in the Special Forces then? Some sort of operative?" her voice dropped a bit lower, as if she were asking him to confide confidential information.

Rex looked back at her in confusion. "Spec Ops?" He looked down at his armor, wondering how anybody could confuse him with a SOC. "No, ma'am. I'm with the _five-oh-first_. Under the command of _General Skywalker_." He spoke slowly, thinking maybe she was having troubles understanding him. He shook his head. Civilians. He'd never understand them.

The woman just looked at him blankly. He turned his attention back to his helmet. It looked alright. But, it would take many hours for his suit to regenerate enough oxygen supply for him to make the swim back to his ship. And, he was still no closer to figuring out where he was. It didn't appear as if this woman would be any help at all. Plus, the way he was currently feeling, he didn't think he could make it to his feet, much less swim two klicks back through commando fish infested water. He blew out a long sigh.

"Are you alright?" the woman asked. Her voice was filled with concern.

Rex looked up at her again. He'd almost forgotten she was there.

"Yes," Rex admitted wearily, "just tired. Been a long week." He glanced up and down the beach. There was no one else around. So far, this civilian and eopie were his only prospects. He rubbed a weary, gritty hand against his face and tried again. "Ma'am, do you know the coordinates of this planet? I need to reset my nav computer so I can get out of here." He glanced back out toward the ocean, and missed the astonished look on the woman's face. "Although, I'm not sure how I'm going to swim back out to my ship quite yet. Those commando fish nearly did me in."

He noticed the woman was being unusually quiet. He turned his attention back to her. She was starting back at him with her jaw agape.

"Did I say something wrong?" Rex scratched at his stubbled jaw. He really wasn't very good at interacting with civilians. Fives told him that all the time.

The woman studied him for a long time. Then, she swung down off her horse. Her movements were graceful and lithe. She knelt down next to Rex in the sand, and after a moment, plunked herself down so she was sitting next to him.

"I think you better start at the beginning," the woman said, "tell me exactly how it is you came to be on this beach, and about these... uh... commando fish of yours."

Rex looked at her, assessing her carefully, and then relented. He took a deep breath and then started with his problems docking with _the Resolute_. He skipped over any details pertaining to his previous mission, or anything classified. He kept it at the level he would be cleared having a discussion with someone who was non-GAR. The woman had grown very quiet as Rex went through his story. When he got to the part about the commando fish, she interrupted him.

"Long grey and white fish with dorsal fins? You mean sharks?" she asked.

Rex shrugged, and then instantly regretted as his injured shoulder twinged, "I don't know what they're called on this planet. I only know they have a fierce bite." He put a hand up to his sore shoulder. "Took me longer than I care to admit to kill three of them."

"You killed three sharks? And, one of them bit you?" the woman stared at him with astonishment. She shook her head in disbelief, "Wait. I can't believe all of this makes sense to me. But, somehow I believe you."

Rex stared at her, wondering why she would have any cause not to believe him. He was the Captain of the five oh first. His credentials were impeccable.

"Show me where you're hurt," the woman prompted.

Rex peeled back his pauldron, grimacing as the material stuck with blood that had dried on while he was unconscious. He pulled off his spaulder. "I think my armor took the worst of it," he said, gritting his teeth as he pulled apart his bodysuit.

The woman peered at the wound, and shook her head, "Oh... that is going to need stitches. You said you hit your head also?"

Rex nodded, "I've had enough concussions to know that's what this was. But, it seems to be better now. I'll have my medic check all of this out when I get back to the Resolute. Just need those nav coordinates."

"The Resolute? Your big spaceship?" the woman seemed to be having difficulties with the terminology Rex was using.

"It's a Jedi cruiser, ma'am," Rex sighed, feeling his exhaustion catching up with him.

The woman looked thoughtful, "Right. Well, I don't know those offhand but I'm sure there is a way we could figure them out. Maybe off the Internet? Look, why don't you come back to my ranch? You look like you could use a hot meal and some rest."

Rex initially wanted to refuse, feeling guilty for even thinking of resting. But, he was no closer to resetting the nav-computer. And, there was the issue of not being able to stand on his own.

"Yes, ma'am. I'd be grateful," Rex said with a nod. He clipped his helmet to his belt, and pushed off with one hand to get to his feet. He was able to get one foot under him before he started to fall backwards. The woman grabbed him under the elbow and supported him. She was surprisingly strong. With her help, he was able to get onto the eopie. The one she called mi'horse.

In one smooth, she leapt up in front of him, and spurred the creature into motion. Just as they were leaving the beach behind, and heading onto a narrow covered path leading away from the sand, there was a tremendous noise overhead.

"Whoa," the woman pulled the horse into the cover of a tree, and they both looked upwards. Rex gazed up in puzzlement as a fleet of unfamiliar airships soared out to sea, headed toward his crash site.

"Looks like somebody might have taken an interest in you," the woman said. "We best keep out of sight."

"Is your planet not hospitable to visitors?" Rex asked in confusion.

"We're a bit wary about your kind of visitors," the woman admitted.

"Have you had issue with the Separatists then?"

"Who?" the woman shook her head, "never mind. Perhaps the less you tell me at this point, the better."

Rex frowned again, trying to figure out the logic behind her statement. They passed a large sign, and Rex realized he couldn't read any of the lettering. He held up his wrist comlink and ran it through his translation matrix, but couldn't find a match. He tapped on her shoulder, "That sign... what did it say?"

The woman turned around and gave him and odd look, but she interpreted the lettering for him nonetheless. "It reads: 'Welcome to the Isle of Wight.'"

Rex ran name over in his head. Isle of Wight. Never heard of it. The lettering didn't look familiar either.

"Is that the name of this planet, then? Isle of Wight?" he asked.

The woman turned around again, and as she did so her body pressed back against Rex. He pretended not to notice. He noticed.

She gave him another one of those odd looks. "No."

Rex's brow furrowed, "Is it-"

She shook her head, giving a nervous look back and forth around them. "Later, alright? I think somehow you ended up a long way from... wherever you're from," she turned back around and focused on guiding the eopie. Although, it seemed to Rex that Mi'horse was doing just fine on it's own.

"Acknowledged," Rex said, and spent the rest of the short journey back to her ranch focused on staying awake. His eyes kept wanting to shut on their own. But, he couldn't help thinking she was right.

# # #


	5. Chapter 5 The Ranch

He was too tired to take in any details of the ranch. They passed by a structure that he assumed were her living quarters, and headed for a second structure. As they entered, more of the creatures greeted the one they were seated upon in their unique language. Rex recorded it and ran the conversation through his translation matrix again. He glanced down at his wrist comm, waiting while the samples were run through. With more data to work from, the matrix was better able to come up with a translation.

It appeared that the creature Rex was seated upon was somewhat disgruntled about carrying the extra weight of two riders. He was calling Rex what translated to a most unflattering name due to his heavy armor. The other eopies found this outrageously clever. Rex shot a dark look over to the other creatures. The translation matrix was having no trouble keeping up now. The comments were flying back and forth now, with the eopies all come up with their own inserting rude terms to insult his armor.

"Give it a rest!" Rex hissed, defensively.

"What's that?" the woman startled.

"Sorry," Rex said, shaking his head, and pointing, "my comment was directed at the eopies." He grumbled under his breath, "Apparently, they have issues with my armor."

The woman's eyebrows lifted up so high that they nearly disappeared into her hairline, but she didn't comment. Rex noticed the horses had stopped laughing and were all regarding him curiously.

"Thank you," he said, with a relieved sigh, his gaze sweeping toward the eopies. Their ears all flickered and twitched, as their eyes regarded him steadily, assessing.

The woman said, "You're welcome."

Rex was going to correct her, that he was once again speaking to the creatures, but he didn't have the energy. He heard the horses chuckling quietly, and shot a quick look over his shoulder. They all silenced.

The woman slid off the horse with the same lithe grace as before. Rex tried to follow suit, but the moment his legs hit the ground, he crashed into an exhausted heap on the ground.

"Ow," he murmured, as he came down on his injured shoulder. He'd landed right under the long nose of Mi'Horse. It was staring down at him, smirking. "Don't even start," Rex said. "Seriously, I've had such a shabla' long day."

"Fine," the creature responded, the translation matrix coming through perfectly now. The text running across the screen on Rex's wrist as the creature spoke, "but, watch your back. Nellie left a fresh pile directly behind you."

One of the other eopies nickered with amusement, obviously proud of their handiwork.

"Thanks for the tip," Rex responded, thinking maybe this eopie wasn't all bad.

"Oh," the woman said, kneeling down next to him, grabbing at one of his hands. She tried to tug him to his feet. "Yes, I should have given you tips on how to get down. I'm so sorry about that. And, watch out behind you, there's-"

"Yes, I know," Rex said.

Fully armored up, he was heavy. The woman was having a difficult time tugging him up. The eopie backed up, repositioned itself, and came down to one knee in front of him. Rex grabbed onto mi'horse and pulled himself to his feet as the creature rose up again.

"Thanks for the help," Rex said, still holding on to the eopie, as he waited for his legs to steady themselves.

The woman was staring at him in shock. "I've never seen Diego behave like this, particularly with a complete stranger. It's most extraordinary. You seem to have a way with animals."

Rex hmmped gently under his breath, thinking the commando fish certainly didn't like him.

_Wait. Diego? What happened to 'mi'horse'?_

"Let's get you into the house. Once I get you settled, I'll come back out and see to Degs here," the woman said, giving the horse an affectionate pat as she crooned to the eopie. The creature rolled its' eyes in Rex's direction, but held silent while the woman was speaking.

_Degs? Was that some kind of nickname? How many names did this eopie have?_

Rex shook his head. Not-Naboo was a farkled confusing place. She slid one arm underneath his shoulders, and another around his waist. Moving slowly, and leaning heavily on the woman, Rex made the short trip to the main ranch house.

The woman pushed the door open with the familiarity of having lived someplace for a while. It was warm inside and smelled of food. Rex's stomach immediately growled in response. His exhaustion was temporarily forgotten as the prospect of food became a possibility.

"Let's get you settled on the couch," the woman said, guiding him to a padded, plush inviting piece of furniture. Rex tried to ease himself down carefully, but ended up more crashing down again. The 'couch' was about the softest thing he'd ever put his body down upon and he had a feeling he would not have been injured no matter how hard he tumbled down into it. He gave a satisfied groan as he sank into the inviting surface, having fallen in a position where he was already halfway laying down.

The woman poked at him. "We should do something about that shoulder."

Rex grumbled in protest. He wanted sleep. Food. Or, food first and then sleep? Gah. They both sounded so good right now. Maybe he could eat in his sleep? Or sleep while he was eating?

"We need to stitch you up," the woman insisted.

Rex was not exactly sure what a 'stitch' was, but it didn't sound pleasant. Or, anything like food or sleep.

"Can you take this off again?" she prodded at his armor.

Realizing that food or sleep was not coming his way anytime soon, Rex reached tired, fumbling hands up to his shoulder and undid his pauldron. His spauldron came away next, and since he was planning on going to sleep soon, he just stripped off his armor pieces down to his waist. She hadn't exactly said he could spend the night, but since he knew he couldn't move anytime soon, he was going to assume that was the case. He pulled apart his bodysuit, stripping that down to the waist as well.

The woman sucked in her breath. Rex noticed that her gaze at first looked down at his bite marks, but then glanced down at his chest and ab muscles. He smirked and couldn't help but give an ab flex for good measure. He heard another sharp inhale.

Maybe planet not-Naboo wasn't all bad.

# # #

_A/N: Will Rex ever get home? Just where did he learn to flex his abs like that? Several more chapters will be uploaded very soon._


	6. Chapter 6 Elsa

_Ow._

_Fek._

Rex tried not to react as the needle bit into his flesh. He wasn't sure which was worse- getting bit by the commando fish, or getting these "stitches" to pull his flesh back together.

The woman had offered him some spirits to dull the pain, but technically Rex was still on duty so drinking was prohibited. Belatedly, Rex remembered he had painkillers and stims in his belt pouch. But, she'd already started with this process that she called "stitching" and had told him "not to move."

The woman kept up a steady stream of conversation while she worked, and Rex wasn't sure whether it was to distract him or herself. She'd started by saying that normally this kind of thing would be done by their local doctors at their medical facility. He'd forgotten what she'd called the place. But, she said they would ask too many questions. Best to keep him hidden right now.

Rex once again got the impression that there was something about not-Naboo she wasn't telling him. He wasn't sure why he had to remain hidden. She didn't even seem to know who the Separatists were, so the odds of it being a Seppie-controlled planet were slim. If they weren't yet part of the Republic, then maybe he could mark this place down as a future Republic outpost or member world. The Senate could then send a representative or ambassador. If the humans weren't interested in membership, maybe the horses would want to join. They seemed like decent creatures. Rex wouldn't mind having them in the Republic. He could see himself sharing an ale with one of them when he was off-duty sometime.

"Gah. Are you almost done?" he tried to peer backwards to see what she was doing.

"Yes. I'm sorry this is taking so long. I usually only stitch up animals here around the ranch," the woman said. "I've never put this many stitches into a person. I also had to be sure it was clean. I don't know what kind of germs are in a shark bite. Yours is the first I've ever seen up close."

Rex wondered at _that_ statement. "Don't your people swim in the seas here on your planet?"

"Yes," the woman replied, "but we generally try to avoid the sharks."

"Thanks for the tip," Rex grumbled. He blew out a breath, "I'll keep that in mind on my way back to my ship."

"So, you're really going to swim- ah, wait, never mind. I said, it's better if I don't know," the woman stopped herself. Rex felt a tugging and a pulling. "OK, there I'm done, just tying it off now. Hold still, I just need to get this area covered up."

"I _am _holding still," Rex's patience was wearing thin, as his stamina completely wore down. He knew the woman was probably doing her best, but he wasn't at his best right now either. He glanced over and saw she was wrapping gauze all around his shoulder. Despite the pain from the stitches, he had to admit that it did already feel better. "Thank you again, ma'am."

"There's no need to thank me, Rex. I'm happy to help, and you don't have to call me, ma'am. My name is Elsa."

# # #

Elsa.

Rex tossed the name around in his brain. Not a name he'd heard of before, but he liked the sound of it.

"Elsa," he murmured aloud.

"Yes," she smiled at him, seeming pleased to hear him say her name. She pulled some more supplies out of the supply kit she'd been using. It was different from the medpak that Coric and Kix used, with more archaic versions of all the basic necessities. He did not see any bacta patches, stims, hypos or scanners. He wondered how they did medicine at all. Well, with lots of needles and string it seemed.

"Ow!" he protested, jerking forward. While he'd been lost in thought, she'd walked behind the couch, and was now prodding at the gash on the back of his head. "You are _not_ stitching my head."

"I don't think it needs stitches," she said, her voice sounding thoughtful, just need to clean it up a bit. Elsa reached into her archaic kit of supplies and tore open a small silver pouch. Rex detected the smell of antiseptic. "Lean forward a bit. You're tall, even sitting down."

Rex stifled a chuckle, despite the fact it hurt as she dabbed at his skull. There was something about her that reminded him of Ahsoka. He had to admit he was enjoying talking to her, even if she did seem to have some sort of odd language barrier thing going on with her horse. (It probably didn't help that she apparently made the horse and its brethren sleep in separate living quarters. He wondered if they'd had a prior disagreement of some sort.) Rex noticed she was done now with her dabbing, and putting the medical supplies away.

"I made some soup before, and have a bit of bread leftover. Are you hungry?" Elsa asked. "It's not much, but I think the soup is still hot."

Rex had to restrain himself from shouting: "Yes!" at the top of his lungs. "A meal would be appreciated. Thank you." He went to rise up and follow her as she turned to go, but Elsa put a restraining hand on his bare chest.

They both stopped and froze at the physical contact. A current of energy seemed to pass between them, and for a moment, neither of them spoke. Then, Elsa pulled her hand back, quickly clearing her throat. "Stay here, Rex. You're exhausted. I'll bring the food to you."

Rex nodded, confused about what had just happened. It didn't feel like that when Coric or Kix touched his chest.

# # #


	7. Chapter 7 Rex discovers pie

The soup was pure bliss.

Rex restrained himself from moaning out loud. But, the broth was obviously stewed from some sort of meat, not nerf, but something equally good. He was too busy eating to ask what it was. There were chunks of what he assumed to be some sort of protein floating in the soup, and also white curly things that were vaguely sweet and had a pleasing texture. All too soon, he'd finished the entire bowl. He tore into the bread, noticing there was a blob of something yellow next to it. He smashed the bread into it and smiled. He had no idea what the yellow smashy stuff was, but it was creamy and rich and pleasing on his tongue. He finished off the bread and smash with three large bites.

"Um, guess you were hungry, Rex?" Elsa was watching him with amusement, leaning up against the doorframe of the kitchen.

Rex gave her a sheepish grin, and placed down the bowl and small plate she'd given him on the side table next to the couch. He wiped his hand against the back of his mouth, coming away with a smear of yellow. He quickly licked it off with his tongue. "Yes."

She blushed as she watched him, and then cleared her throat. "How long has it been since you've eaten anything?" her head cocked to the side, and she looked \ concerned. Rex was touched. The only people who'd ever shown any concern about him were his brothers, and sometimes the commander or the general.

"Uh, I guess a week, unless you count ration bars. But, those aren't good. Ever had one?" Rex asked.

"A week!" Elsa said, not answering his question about the ration bars. "No wonder you were hungry."

"No, actually, I had-" Rex started to explain about the ration bars, but Elsa had already disappeared back into the kitchen.

She reappeared a moment later with more soup. "This is the last of it, but if you're still hungry, I could make you a sandwich."

Rex gave her a considering look, not sure what a sandwich was, but it sounded alright. "Uh, a sandwich might be nice."

# # #

Another bowl of soup, two sandwiches, and three slices of something called 'pie' later, Rex was finally full. He finished his fifth glass of water, and handed it back to Elsa.

"More?" she asked, holding up the pitcher.

He shook his head. He'd been dehydrated from his swim through the seas, but he was starting to feel better. Now, he just needed to sleep. For several rotations. He couldn't stifle a yawn.

"I'll get you a pillow and blanket. You don't mind sleeping here on the couch?" Elsa asked.

Rex thought at that moment he would take a blaster to anybody who tried to pry him off this wonderfully padded bunk that Elsa referred to as 'the couch.' He shook his head, too tired to form words.

As she left the room, he tugged off the rest of his armor plates, trying to stack them in a neat pile by his feet. He wasn't sure if the pile he formed was anything resembling neat. He was barely able to tug off his boots. He flopped backwards, and was asleep before Elsa arrived backwards with the blankets.

# # #


	8. Chapter 8 Middle of the Night

Rex woke up just briefly over the next rotation. But, he was too exhausted to do any more than roll over slightly, and shift into a more comfortable position. He was aware that he was someplace safe and warm, and his body was healing. At some point, a blanket had been tucked around him. He thought he managed to toss it off as he slept, and it had somehow ended up carefully tucked around him again. A pillow had been stuffed under his head, and he was sure he would've been content to sleep until the end of the Clone Wars if his bladder had not made itself known. After five glasses of water, Rex was roused by the pressing need to find a refresher.

It must have been the middle of the sleep cycle for this planet. He was still not sure what it was called. Not-Naboo. Not-Isle of Wight? Everything was dark and the ranch house was silent. He fumbled for his helmet next to the bed, and slid it on, flipping on the twin headlamps. He had no idea where to find the refresher. The need pressing upon him now was beyond urgent. Ever a practical man, he headed outdoors and found a spot well away from the main structure. The property was larger than it had looked at first, and well-maintained. He heaved out a long sigh of relief.

Rex heard a familiar voice, and startled. But, then realized it was coming from the secondary structure nearby. Elsa had referred to it as 'the stable.' His memories of his first day were fuzzy at best, but now that he'd slept and eaten, it was much easier to focus. Rex walked toward the stable, and realized the voice came from mi'horse/Diego. He headed into the stable, and greeted the eopie by both names.

He glanced down at his wristcomm, which he wore at all times as part of protocol while on a mission. The eopie's reply came across the unit, easily translated. There was a chuckle of amusement at his greeting, and then, "Hey, Rex, what are you doing up at this time of night?"

"Ah," Rex scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, "drank too much water?"

There was a clear moment of confusion on the eopie's face, and then Rex heard the clear sound of the other creatures laughing at him. Diego gave them all an imperious look and silence reigned in the stables. "You know that your kind generally does that thing indoors these days? Never have been able to figure out why."

"I didn't want to wake up Elsa," Rex said.

"You require her help to do this indoors?" Diego sounded generally perplexed, but the rest of the stables had erupted in laughter again.

"Will you stop!" Rex gave the rest of the eopies a look of exasperation. He looked back at Diego, "Can we change the topic?"

"Sure, Rex, what's on your mind?"

"Do you know anything about interplanetary coordinates? I need to reset my nav-computer. I'm not from around here," Rex explained.

"That much is obvious," Diego said, chuckling again, and the rest of the eopies bobbed their heads in agreement. "Alright, so you need to know where this planet is relative to the rest of the stars in this planetary system? Those kinds of coordinates?"

"Yes!" Rex said, excitedly, "exactly!"

Diego looked over at the other eopies in the stable, and they glanced back and forth at each other eying each other thoughtfully, murmuring back and forth. Rex glanced back and forth at his translation matrix and saw rapid fire series of numbers and mathematical calculations flying across his screen. He felt his pulse rising with excitement.

# # #


	9. Chapter 9 The Void

He left before morning. In his belt pouch, he kept a small sheet of flimsi-plast and his Republic-issue stylus. Both were waterproof since they were designed to withstand the rigors of battle, (along with everything else in his kit.) He didn't know how to write in the language he'd seen on the sign, so he left Elsa a note in Aurebesh.

He hoped she would be able to read it. Maybe she could get Diego or one of the eopies could translate. As they'd worked on calculations together, he'd been introduced to Nellie, Wispa and Magnum. Between the five of them, and linking data from Rex's HUD back to the ship, they reset the nav computer within an hour.

Rex frowned, and scratched at his chin. He was confused about the relationship between the four eopies, and not sure exactly whom was in charge of the ranch. He blew out a sigh and kept writing.

In the note, he thanked her for the excellent soup, sandwiches and pie (he was not sure how these last two items were spelled in Aurebesh so he sounded them out phonetically.) He also thanked her for the comforts of the couch, (also written phonetically.) He said if she ever ended up in his galaxy that could find him with the five-oh-first, but now was not a good time to visit due to the Clone Wars. He scratched his chin again, and wondered if that sounded offensive. Fives was right. He wasn't all that good at civilian things.

He blew out a breath, and stumbled on.

He thanked her for the advice on the commando fish, and said he would avoid them on his return swim, (although he just put that part in there to be polite, because he would've done that anyway.) Not knowing what else to say, he signed it, "Rex. CC-7567."

He stared at the finished note, and then decided it wasn't much to leave someone who'd housed, fed and stitched him, (painful as _that_ was.) He placed his Republic-issue stylus next to the flimsi-plast. It was one of the few things he owned other than his armor and blaster. He'd have to requisition another, which was always an ordeal of flimsiwork. But, he wanted to leave something of himself behind. He ran his thumb along the stylus. He'd scratched his numbers carefully into it. It had been his since he'd been issued his gear at Kamino, and he'd used it often. He gave the numbers one last fond tracing and then left it behind.

He grabbed up his gear and then headed back out to the barn where Diego was waiting for him.

# # #

They followed the trail back to the beach, riding silently in the dark. Diego seemed to know the way on his own, and Rex had to admit he enjoyed the ride. He could see why the people of this planet insisted upon riding on the backs of these creatures. He wondered how Diego and his brethren felt about this practice. He thought the question might be insulting, so he didn't ask.

The stars were bright and clear overhead. Rex gazed upwards, and wondered if somewhere up there _the Resolute_ was waiting for him.

# # #

At the edge of the shore, he slid off Diego's back. He did so this time with grace and ease, like he'd seen Elsa do. He was pleased that he'd recovered his strength and his muscles were once again responding as they should. His suit had pulled in oxygen from the surrounding air, and was showing full reserves once again. He gazed out toward the dark sea, and felt confident he could make the swim back to his ship. He double-checked all the seals on his helmets, and looked over at Diego. The eopie was gazing thoughtfully up at the stars.

"My kind have been in touch with the stars for thousands of years, Rex," Diego said. "We guided the Aztecs, the Incas, and races so ancient their names have been lost with time. We were placed here by a species from beyond the stars, like yourself."

"Why don't you go with me? I'll pick you up here on shore. There'd be a place for you in the Republic. You'd like my friend, Fives."

Diego shook his head. "No, Rex, you tempt me. But, my place is here with Elsa. I need to watch out for her. Our time will come and we will return to the stars. But, for now, we need to watch out for the people here. They have some troubled times ahead of them and will need our guidance. We were placed here for a reason. They are a foolish sort and need our wisdom. Good luck, Rex."

"Thanks for everything, Diego," Rex stood at attention and gave the eopie a crisp formal salute before sliding once again into the icy cold waters.

# # #

"Resolute, this is Captain Rex, do you copy?... Resolute, do you copy?"

Rex blew out a long sigh. Thanks to the complex series of calculations from Diego and the others, _equus'ians_ he found they preferred to be called, the nav-computer came back online and he'd gone back through the way he'd come, without the sickening spins and rolls. But, he'd still been able to reach _the Resolute_. He was floating in a section of space that seemed devoid of stars.

Dead of anything.

Gah. He felt like he was totally lost. Forever.

He was running low on power. The ship could only continue on for another few hours. And, then it would shutdown and he would freeze. He had no choice but to continue on.

Rex ground his knuckles against his eyes, and kept the ship true to the course the equus'ians had given him.

"Resolute, this is Captain Rex, do you copy?"

Suddenly, he burst out of the void into a bright cluster of stars.

There was a burst of static on the comm so loud that Rex that the dampeners on his HUD kicked in. A moment later, "This is the Resolute. Captain Rex, send a confirmation code to confirm your identity."

Rex blinked at the formality, but then realized it was standard procedure after any trooper who unexpectedly went missing and then showed up again. His fingers tapped across the screen and he typed in the complex series of codes that were unique and known only to him.

Seconds later, a familiar voice came on, "Rex! Where have you been?! We've been scouring the entire region for you? You disappeared off our scanners right after uploading the mission data!"

"Uh, good to hear your voice, General," Rex said, unable to hold back a pleased smile, "I'll explain everything once I get back onboard. Permission to dock?"

"Yes, of course," the general replied, "I'll put you back through to the deck officer. I'll meet you in the landing bay. You can bet Kix and Coric will be there. They've been beside themselves since you went missing. And, Fives hasn't been himself either. He's actually been behaving."

Rex smiled, thinking how good it felt to be home.

"Captain," the voice of the deck officer came through, "you are cleared to land. Docking Bay 74."

Rex's eyes widened, "Uh... is there a chance I could get another landing bay?"

# # #


	10. Chapter 10 Home

Elsa slept later in the morning than usual after a restless night of sleep. She'd had odd dreams and frequent awakenings, thinking she was hearing voices coming from the stable. It had random as dreams always are, with jumbled images from the past two days. She'd seen the handsome stranger she'd rescued the beach. All of her horses. And, strangely, enough. Numbers. Math equations. Elsa shook her head. Dreams were the weirdest things and rarely made any sense at all.

She hurried through her shower, and out to the main living room. Rex would surely be starved by now. But, the room was empty. The blanket on the couch had been neatly folded with such precision it looked like it had just come out of the packaging.

She knew without searching any further that he was gone.

Resting in the center of the pillow was a note made of an odd material that was not paper and not plastic. Elsa had never seen anything like it before. She had a feeling that she never would again. The writing on it was precise and neat, and she couldn't read any of it.

Elsa studied the lettering, and her lips quirked up with amusement. It was obvious the note had been written with great care, because even without being able to understand the writing, each of the characters was carefully formed and neat. On the very bottom were four numbers.

"7567," Elsa murmured them aloud, wondering what they could mean.

There was some sort of pen resting next to the note. Elsa picked it up, and studied it for a long time. Like the paper, it was different from anything she had seen before. The materials felt different, as did the texture, and the design was unusual. She was sure it had been left behind intentionally. A gift. There were more symbols on it that she could not read, along with an unfamiliar logo. A sort of black circle and spoked wheel. Odd. There were numbers hand scratched into the surface. She traced them out with her fingers.

"7567," she said slowly and reverently.

She was sure she would never find out what these four digits meant, but they would always be special to her.

She tucked the note away and the stylus away in her inner most breast pocket close to her chest, in the spot where she'd briefly touched Rex. These items would always rest close to her heart. Just a treasured little momento of a chance meeting. She had no idea of who the handsome stranger really was, but she sensed he was somebody very special.

# # #

That night, Rex lay awake in his bunk, arms tucked behind his head. Kix and Coric had insisted upon giving him a complete physical. Upon discovering the little bite he'd gotten from the commando fish, they insisted he go in a bacta tank for a few hours. Rex assured them he was 'fine,' but the two medics never did listen to him. They also made him go through a battery of tests after finding out about the tiny incident with his head.

_Medics. Always fussing._

He smiled to himself. It was actually nice to be back.

After Kix and Coric cleared him, he had to sit through hours of debriefing with the admiral, the general and the commander. All three listened to his story with great interest, and agreed that the equus'ians would make good viable members of the Republic one day.

He ended up telling the whole story again at dinner sitting at a table with Fives, Echo, Denal, Hardcase and Tup. Hardcase made Rex tell the part about the commando fish three times, and insisted on making dramatic sound effects. Thanks to Hardcase, the story was sure to spread to the entire five oh first, likely getting more creative with each telling.

By the time Rex retired his quarters, he was exhausted. But, sleep still wouldn't come. Somehow, the swirly cloud covered planet of not-Naboo had gotten to him.

Gah. He never did found out what the place was called.

# # #


End file.
